Business Briefs Takings Plummet

Figures from the Irish Department of Finance show that there was an Exchequer deficit of almost &#8364;750 million in January, compared with a surplus of almost &#8364;630 million in the same month last year. Tax receipts were down almost 19 percent from January last year, at &#8364;3.73 billion. This was almost twice as much as the 10 percent reduction in total taxes for the year as a whole predicted by the Department of Finance just three weeks ago. The tax take was lower under all categories, with a 72 percent drop in stamp duties from home sales, from &#8364;180 million last January to just &#8364;50 million. Capital gains tax receipts also slumped from &#8364;129 million to &#8364;36 million. VAT receipts were down almost 16 percent on the year to &#8364;1.97 billion, but the fall in the take from income tax was smaller, down 3.5 percent to &#8364;1.16 billion. Current spending in the month was just under &#8364;4.75 billion, compared with &#8364;4.24 billion a year earlier.